If They Were Baby Seals Instead of Just Babies...

Perhaps our pro-abortion friends will better understand why we pro-lifers oppose any tax-funded support for Planned Parenthood if we explain our opposition in a way that engages their sympathy:

Suppose there were a company called Planned Parkas that manufactures very warm winter coats for people who otherwise would have difficulty obtaining them.

Planned Parkas provides a vital wintertime resource to low-income and homeless people from Bangor to Boise, so the federal government uses taxpayer money to support Planned Parkas -- except, of course, for that part of the operation that clubs baby seals, skins them, tans their hides, and sews their furs onto parka hoods. (Baby seal fur is a very warm, durable, and practical trim.)

Now, no taxpayer money goes directly to pay the men who club the baby seals, or to transport baby seal furs from the Arctic Circle to Planned Parka factories, or even to pay workers who sew baby seal fur onto hoods. The law prevents that.

However, taxpayer money does help pay operating expenses of factories where Planned Parka products are manufactured -- including those that feature baby seal fur -- and the warehouses where they are stored. Taxpayer money helps pay an army of Planned Parka staff to keep track of inventory -- including stock that contains baby seal fur -- and to do accounting that includes sales of baby seal fur products. Taxpayer money is also a source of funding for the staff who make sure low-income and homeless clientele are provided with parkas -- including parkas that feature baby seal fur.

Planned Parkas says that only 3% of its product line involves the killing of baby seals. Yet it is a fact that Planned Parkas gets at least 30% to 40% of its revenue from baby seal fur products, and in 2011 Planned Parkas harvested over 333,000 baby seals.

But parkas with baby seal fur-lined hoods are not the only kind of product Planned Parkas furnishes to its clients. Planned Parkas performs a great public service: they provide many other kinds of parkas -- all of them totally fur-free -- to a great number of people whose health and, sometimes, whose very lives depend on keeping warm in the winter with the coats Planned Parkas brings to them. This organization provides products to people in dire need of them, and who otherwise may not be able to get them.

So won't you please contribute to Planned Parkas? Remember, your generous donation is tax-deductible. Of course, any donation you make is beyond the funding you already provide to Planned Parkas through the taxes you pay.

And remember: none of your tax money contributes to the death of a single baby seal.

Perhaps our pro-abortion friends will better understand why we pro-lifers oppose any tax-funded support for Planned Parenthood if we explain our opposition in a way that engages their sympathy:

Suppose there were a company called Planned Parkas that manufactures very warm winter coats for people who otherwise would have difficulty obtaining them.

Planned Parkas provides a vital wintertime resource to low-income and homeless people from Bangor to Boise, so the federal government uses taxpayer money to support Planned Parkas -- except, of course, for that part of the operation that clubs baby seals, skins them, tans their hides, and sews their furs onto parka hoods. (Baby seal fur is a very warm, durable, and practical trim.)

Now, no taxpayer money goes directly to pay the men who club the baby seals, or to transport baby seal furs from the Arctic Circle to Planned Parka factories, or even to pay workers who sew baby seal fur onto hoods. The law prevents that.

However, taxpayer money does help pay operating expenses of factories where Planned Parka products are manufactured -- including those that feature baby seal fur -- and the warehouses where they are stored. Taxpayer money helps pay an army of Planned Parka staff to keep track of inventory -- including stock that contains baby seal fur -- and to do accounting that includes sales of baby seal fur products. Taxpayer money is also a source of funding for the staff who make sure low-income and homeless clientele are provided with parkas -- including parkas that feature baby seal fur.

Planned Parkas says that only 3% of its product line involves the killing of baby seals. Yet it is a fact that Planned Parkas gets at least 30% to 40% of its revenue from baby seal fur products, and in 2011 Planned Parkas harvested over 333,000 baby seals.

But parkas with baby seal fur-lined hoods are not the only kind of product Planned Parkas furnishes to its clients. Planned Parkas performs a great public service: they provide many other kinds of parkas -- all of them totally fur-free -- to a great number of people whose health and, sometimes, whose very lives depend on keeping warm in the winter with the coats Planned Parkas brings to them. This organization provides products to people in dire need of them, and who otherwise may not be able to get them.

So won't you please contribute to Planned Parkas? Remember, your generous donation is tax-deductible. Of course, any donation you make is beyond the funding you already provide to Planned Parkas through the taxes you pay.

And remember: none of your tax money contributes to the death of a single baby seal.